A number of different devices may be used to remove fluids from a cavity, or other region of a patient, during a medical procedure. Often these devices will implement removal via suction. In general, devices used for producing suction, moving material by suction, or collecting material by suction, such as various types of aspirators, have remained largely the same since their initial development. Typically, a hollow tubular instrument is connected to a partial vacuum. The partial vacuum creates suction through the tubular instrument, thus removing fluid, tissue, or other material from a cavity or region of the body.
An aspirator typically includes a tip that is inserted into a surgical site, wound, or other bodily hole. The tip is generally elongated in shape and may include a handheld or grip section to facilitate using the aspirator. The proximal end of the tip is connected to a tube connected to a suction pump, providing the partial vacuum and thus suction to the tip. During use, the distal end of the aspirator tip is inserted into the patient. This distal end may have one or more openings into which gases, fluids, and materials may flow.
During operation, pieces of tissue and other debris may be suspended in the bodily fluid, thus clogging the aspirator. In addition, as is typically the case, surgical irrigation is used to wash a wound, tissues, organs and surgical cavities as part of various medical procedures. As a result, irrigation solution is introduced into the body, which is typically removed at a later stage. Various materials can also become entrained in the irrigation solution. There are various ways in which fluid flow can be interrupted or aspirator ports can be clogged during aspirator operation.
For example, openings at an end of the aspirator, the location where fluid first enters the device, are particularly vulnerable to clogging. One solution to this problem involves covering the distal end of the aspirator with a sleeve formed with a plurality of small holes. The plurality of small holes may prevent the tissue from reaching the opening of the aspirator. However, the plurality of small holes may still allow the fluid sleeve to become clogged. As the fluid sleeve becomes clogged, suction is no longer distributed uniformly among the remaining unclogged holes. This condition may create additional undesirable suction in a particular area, thus pulling surrounding tissue into the holes of the sleeve and simultaneously blocking or otherwise reducing the suctioning of unwanted material during the procedure.
One solution to this problem of clogging involves including additional holes in the end of the aspirator, near the connection between the sleeve and the aspirator. Because these additional holes are spaced from the wound, bodily hole, or surgical site, the additional holes are less likely to become clogged with tissue or debris. However, these holes are often vulnerable to obstruction by the hands or fingers of the user (e.g., by the hand holding the aspirator). Likewise, these holes may be obstructed or blocked when resting the aspirator and sleeve combination against another object, such as the patient's body, a table, or dressings surrounding the surgical site. Further, given the introduction of an irrigation solution and the entrainment of material therein, the potential exists for unintentionally suction applied to tissue and tearing at tissue surface or otherwise damaging it through the process of removing unwanted material from a surgical site using a suction device.
Therefore, a need exists for improved surgical aspirator and sleeve combinations that address these challenges and others relating to a user's tactile user experience when using such combinations and as otherwise described in more detail herein.